Let's Talk with Debra H. Goldstein
Let’s Talk with Debra H Goldstein
January 23, 2020
How are you doing on your 2020 New Year’s Resolutions?
by Debra H. Goldstein
Have you managed to stick to your 2020 New Year’s resolutions or, now that we’re almost at the end of January, have you given up?
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I always keep my New Year’s resolutions. How you ask? It’s simple. I’m realistic. Here are my 2020 New Year’s resolutions:
1) I won’t spend any time worrying about exercising, eating the wrong foods, or gaining or losing weight.
2) I will make time for family and friends.
3) I won’t fret if things in the house aren’t perfectly in place, if the bed isn’t made, or I forget to defrost so we must eat out or order pizza.
4) I will make time to read.
The hardest one for me not to break is the last. Writing demands, activities generated by keeping resolution number 2, book promotion, playing solitaire, and a million other things always seem to crop up, but I recognize finding time to read is one of the most important things I can do. Not only does it relax me, but whether I read a book, article, blog, or the caption on a box, reading educates me. It takes me to new worlds and introduces me to new ideas.
If you haven’t had a chance to become familiar with my new Sarah Blair series, leave a comment about your 2020 resolutions or why reading is important to you. I’ll send a print copy of One Taste Too Many and Two Bites Too Many to two lucky winners (print copies require U.S. mailing addresses. International readers will only be able to win e-book versions).
Posted in Let's Talk, with Debra H. Goldstein • Tags: BLB Discussion, Debra H Goldstein, Let's Talk, New Year's Resolutions | 16 Comments
I find I catch up on a lot of reading when I’m on vacation, but I do try to carve out some time each week. It helps when it’s a book that really grabs me. I’ve learned to stop reading books that don’t. I’ll give a book about 3 chapters. If by then I’m not hooked on the story and characters, I move on to another book. Life is too short, and my Kindle is chock full of other books waiting to be read.
I should do that, but I don’t. Even when I judge something, I feel like I need to read the entire piece.
I don’t make resolutions. I’m awful at keeping them. I do intend to lose the pounds I put on while recovering from surgery. That starts tomorrow and I’m ready.
Hope you are recovering…… and that the pounds fall off so they never have to be a resolution again.
I like your resolutions – maybe doable and save a lot of guilt for breaking all the usual type. I stopped with resolutions a while ago but this year did pick a word to try and live by: Optimism. Instead of hoping for good outcomes and then being angry or disappointed if things don’t happen like I planned, this year I’m going to try to look on the bright side and just go with what I have.
That’s a great sentiment. Optimism is a prayer we all have for the future and the present.
Reading lets down all my guards and I immerse myself in a story. I need that total break of having no demands of not having to be something. The experience hits a reset button and lowers stress in a way that few other activities do.
I agree.. though with you, I think some of your photography must do the same.
I think your approach to resolutions is the right one. And I do need to add your “making time to read more” to my own list. My TBR pile is so high and I really miss doing nothing but lounging with a book, but so many other things seem to intrude. I need to make a conscious effort to find that time…even thirty minutes in an evening.
I’ve been working against a deadline. My goal is to finish and sit and read for two weeks. Let’s see if it happens.
I love your resolutions. I always like the old joke that said, “My resolution was to stop procrastinating. But I keep putting it off.” I love reading because I love stories. Interesting people and places. Thanks for the contest!
Thanks for leaving a comment. I love that old joke!
I am always reading at least two and sometimes three books at the same time. Like others, I start far more books than I finish. There are too many good books waiting to put the time in a story I’m not enjoying. Happy Lunar New Year!
happy Lunar New Year to you, too.
I always read at bedtime. Right now I’m hooked on a 9 book fantasy series and I look forward to reading hour like a kid going to the ice cream shop. It’s a nightly treat.
Never make resolutions! I read to escape and to have the happy ending.